Lizzie Mabbott's Chinese Fried Chicken

It's not that often a cookbook comes along that genuinely fulfils an unmet need but Lizzie Mabbott's (aka blogger Hollowlegs) Chinatown Kitchen is one.

For those of you who have been put off trying Chinese and other Asian recipes because you don't know what ingredients to buy or understand how best to use them it's a really useful buy.

Here's one recipe to give you a taster - the most irresistible-sounding fried chicken.

Lizzie writes: "Let’s get one thing straight. Shrimp sauce absolutely stinks.It smells like a thousand rotten prawns, mulched into a jar. It is (probably) that. If you open the jar and take a sniff, your head will jerk back, brow furrowed, as if you’ve been slapped. Something strange happens when you cook with it, though; it changes aroma and becomes mouthwatering. It smells of the seaside, with added toastiness. It becomes appetizing. If there's any way to get you on board with this death-paste, it's fried chicken. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like fried chicken. Juicy meat and a crunchy, flavoursome exterior are key criteria for success.

Serves 8 as a snack

1kg (2lb 4oz) mixture of chicken thighs and wings

3 tbsp fine shrimp sauce

2 tsp sugar

2 garlic cloves, mashed

2 tsp ginger juice (grate fresh root ginger and squeeze the pulp to release the juice)

2 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine

2 tbsp oyster sauce

85g (3oz) potato starch

700ml (1¼ pints) cooking oil

Chop the chicken thighs in half through the bone with a cleaver and place in a bowl. Joint the chicken wings by separating the upper wing from the lower wing and wing tip. Add to the bowl.

Mix together the shrimp sauce, sugar, garlic, ginger juice, Shaoxing wine and oyster sauce, then use it to coat the chicken, mixing well. Cover and leave to marinate in the fridge for at least 6 hours, or overnight.

Ten minutes before cooking, add the potato starch to the chicken and mix well.

Heat the oil in a wok or saucepan to 180°C (350°F). Fry the chicken pieces, in batches, for 8–10 minutes until crisp and browned, turning once. Remove and place on a rack to drain.

Serve with the chilli & ginger sauce below for dipping or homemade or shop-bought sriracha. Lizzie says they would also be good with the Chinese chive breads in the book.

Chilli & ginger sauce

10 large red chillies

5cm (2in) piece of fresh root ginger, peeled and roughly chopped

pinch of salt

1 tsp water

To make the chilli and ginger sauce to accompany the meal, deseed the chillies and chop roughly. Blend in a blender with the ginger, salt and water until smooth. Transfer to a serving bowl.

What to drink: I'm thinking of one specific bottle to drink with this: Charles Smith's Kung Fu Girl riesling which I think would suit both the dish and Lizzie perfectly. But any off-dry riesling would do. A good lager or a fresh citrussy cocktail would be other alternatives.

Chinatown Kitchen by Lizzie Mabbott is published by Mitchell Beazley at £20. Photographs © David Munns. You can also find Lizzie's recipes and restaurant reviews on her blog Hollow Legs.

Pot Roast Pork with Fennel, Olives, Oranges & Oregano

If you're looking for a Sunday roast with a twist try this gorgeous Spanish-inspired pork recipe from Richard Turner's amazing new book, Hog*. Not least 'cos it mentions me in the intro ;-)

"Although not particularly authentic, this braise was inspired by stews I’ve eaten in Ibiza and is redolent of a hot Iberian summer. Fiona Beckett, a long time oenophile and dispenser of sage advice, recommends a glass or two of Santa Maria del Camí Binissalem from neighbouring Mallorca.

Serves 4

1.5kg boned and rolled pork shoulder

Maldon sea salt flakes

50ml olive oil

2 onions, halved through the root

2 fennel bulbs, halved through the root

4 garlic cloves, sliced

200ml dry white wine

1 litre pork broth or stock

200ml fresh orange juice

400g can chopped tomatoes

100g pitted green olives

2 large oranges, segmented

2 tablespoons fresh oregano leaves

hot smoked paprika, for dusting (optional)

Preheat the oven to 200ºC/gas mark 6.

Score the skin of the pork with a sharp knife, making small incisions 2cm apart, then rub the skin with salt.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large flameproof casserole over a medium heat. Add the onions and fennel and cook for 10 minutes until just softened and golden. Add the garlic and cook for a further 2 minutes.

Add the white wine and reduce by half. Pour in the stock, bring to the boil and reduce by half, then add the orange juice and tomatoes.

Sit the pork in the vegetables and place in the oven, uncovered, for 40 minutes. Add the olives, then cook for a further 20 minutes until the pork is cooked through.

Turn the oven off, add the orange segments and oregano and allow to rest in the oven for 30 minutes before transferring to a chopping board to carve.

Serve the pork along with the vegetables, olives and orange segments, drizzled with a spoonful of the pan juice. The lightest dusting of hot smoked paprika at the end adds a lovely warming character.

*Subscribers can win a copy of the book this month! All you need to do is register on the website then send an email to giveaways@matchingfoodandwine.com with 'Hog book' in the subject line by Sunday 26th April 2015.

What to drink: As Richard says I'm a fan of Santa Maria del Camí Binissalem - a robust blend of the local Mante Negro blended with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah which is normally listed by Marks & Spencer but seems to be currently out of stock. A good Côtes du Rhône or other grenache-based red should also work.

Photo © Paul Winch-Furness

Bacon Tart

A traditional - and delicious - recipe from a book I discovered called Cape Winelands Cuisine compiled by Hetta van Deventer-Terblanche. Basically it's a savoury bread pudding rather than a tart but none the worse for that.

Hetta writes: Many versions of bacon tart appear in old cookbooks. All the recipes are basically a variatio on a salty 'bread pudding' made from egg custard, bread and breakfast bacon or ham. This recipe is a firm favourite and can easily be prepared in a large pie dish for a group of people or as individual portions

Ingredients

3 Tbsp (45 ml) butter

¼ cup (60 ml) dried breadcrumbs

Butter or oil for sautéing

½ red onion, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, chopped

300 g back or shoulder bacon, diced

6 slices bread

4 eggs

2 cups (500 ml) buttermilk or full-cream milk (buttermilk has a distinctive sour taste)

½ cup (125 ml) grated Cheddar cheese

¼ tsp (1 ml) ground allspice

Pinch of cayenne pepper

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 spring onions, chopped, for garnishing (optional)

Method

Preheat the oven to 160°C (325 °F).

Grease an ovenproof dish with 1 Tbsp (15 ml) of the butter and dust with the breadcrumbs. Refrigerate for 15 minutes to set.

Heat a little butter or oil in a pan and sauté the onion, garlic and bacon for 5 minutes until done.

Spread each slice of bread, on one side only, with the remaining butter. Lay the buttered bread in layers in the dish, buttered side up, sprinkling the sautéed onion and bacon mixture over each layer.

Mix the eggs, buttermilk or milk, cheese, allspice and cayenne pepper together. Season to taste with salt and black pepper. Pour the mixture over the bread in the ovenproof dish and bake for 15-20 minutes until golden and set. Sprinkle with spring onions if using.

Either turn out and service in slices, or serve directly from the dish.

What to drink: It's a South African dish so I'd suggest a South African wine - a Chenin or Chenin Blanc blend, I reckon. Or a dry to medium-dry cider

Josceline Dimbleby's Crispy Pigeon Pie

This impressive Moroccan-style pie from Josceline Dimbleby's food memoir Orchards in the Oasis would make a great centrepiece for a dinner party or more casual supper with friends.

"This party piece – a deliciously aromatic fusion of flavours – isn’t a true Moroccan bastilla, but it is inspired by those I have eaten there, and less laborious to make." says Josceline. "I serve it with a green salad – with fennel slivers and coriander and mint leaves added – and a bowl of yogurt to spoon onto your plate beside the pie."

The filling can be made ahead.

Serves 8

12 pigeon breast fillets, skinned
350g red onions
3 large cloves garlic
generous walnut-sized piece fresh root ginger
75g unsalted butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 rounded teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 rounded teaspoon paprika
finely grated rind and juice of 1 lemon
2 level teaspoons caster sugar
150g blanched almonds
6 medium free-range eggs
4 tablespoons whole milk
1 rounded teaspoon turmeric
large handful of flat-leafed parsley
350g filo or strudel pastry
1 level tablespoon icing sugar
sea salt, cayenne pepper

Cut the pigeon breasts into small pieces. Peel, halve and finely slice the onions. Peel and finely chop the garlic and ginger. Melt 15g of the butter with the olive oil in a wide flameproof casserole dish or large, deep frying pan (with a lid) over a medium heat. Stir in the garlic, ginger, cinnamon and paprika, followed by the pigeon. Stir for a minute or two, then add the onions and the lemon rind and juice. Cover the pan and cook over a low heat for about 40 minutes, stirring now and then, until the pigeon is tender. Then remove the lid, stir in the sugar and bubble to reduce the juices down. Season to taste with salt and cayenne pepper and leave to cool.

Meanwhile, brown the almonds in a dry frying pan and then whiz briefly in a food processor to chop. Whisk the eggs in a bowl with the milk, turmeric and a little salt. Melt a knob of butter in a saucepan over a low heat, add the egg mixture and scramble slowly and lightly, stirring only once or twice. Remove from the heat and leave to cool. Heat the oven to 180°C/Gas 4.

Pull the leaves off the parsley stems and chop them roughly. Stir into the cooled pigeon mixture with the almonds. Melt the remaining butter. Brush a loose-based deep cake tin, about 18cm in diameter, thinly with butter. Line the tin with a sheet of filo, bringing it up the sides and allowing the excess to overhang the rim; keep the rest of the filo covered with a damp cloth so it doesn’t dry out. Then lay another sheet of filo across the first one (at a 90° angle) and continue like this, buttering the sheets between each layer, and reserving two sheets.

Now spoon half the pigeon mixture into the filo-lined tin and level the surface. Spread the scrambled egg evenly on top and cover with the remaining pigeon mixture. Fold the overhanging filo over the filling and then lay the remaining filo sheets on top. Press the excess pastry down inside the edge of the tin and butter the top.

Cook the pie in the centre of the oven for about 30 minutes until well browned. Push the pie up so it is just on the tin base, then using a wide spatula, lever it carefully off the base onto an ovenproof serving plate. Put back in the oven for about 20 minutes to crisp the sides. Before serving, sift icing sugar over the top. Use a very sharp knife to cut into slices.

Taken from ORCHARDS IN THE OASIS by JOSCELINE DIMBLEBY, published by Quadrille (£25, hardback)

Photography © JASON LOWE

What to drink: I'd like an aged Spanish red like a Rioja Reserva or Gran Reserva with this or an old vintage of Chateau Musar.